Posted
by
samzenpus
on Wednesday August 11, 2010 @10:43AM
from the prioritizing-priorities dept.

dotarray writes "Everybody knows that there's a certain risk one takes when playing addictive, engrossing games can be trouble when you're meant to be doing something else. The prevalence of awesome games on the iPhone hasn't helped that risk. A Plants Vs. Zombies loving police officer has learned this the hard way after an escape."

I'm a bit surprised that the prison allows the guards to keep their phones with them on duty. While not for this specific reason, there's all kinds of ways in which this can go wrong, from jail breaks to contacts with the outside world that aren't being monitored.

That being said, the fact that he put the keys down is the real issue. Security, LEOs and such are never under any circumstance to put their keys down, not even for a moment for this precise reason. People can get access to them without your knowledge.

Dude, have you ever been into a police department in a major city (mine shall remain nameless)....Last time I was in one, I waited 5 minuets while the metal detector operator replied to a text message. Then, at the records department, i waited 15 minuets while another officer finished a personal call on their cell phone (quite entertaining). Then on my way out, every officer sitting down at a post quickly tucked away the cell phone mid-text.

I'm from the Philippines and what really surprises me is how the guard was able to afford the iPhone. The monthly plans that would've made the iPhone free would almost equal his net monthly income. And I can't really imagine him being able to afford to buy the unit by itself.

I'm from the Philippines and what really surprises me is how the guard was able to afford the iPhone.

I've been to the Phils a few times (cheap for an Aussie).

The cops, they are all on the take and quite openly. A lowly guard would be earning a pittance officially (actually it would be quite high for Philippine wages, maybe up to 200 USD a month) but he will always get his share of the graft *cough* sorry, I mean Tea Money.

Cops in third world nations can operate like the Mafia with little resistance.

A company I used to work for had a large workforce, mostly modest-paying manufacturing wage jobs. They announced a 400% company match on 401(K) contributions up to 5%, and almost everyone bought in at the full 5%. The company announced how proud they were that their financial seminars had been met with resounding success, and how happy they were to contribute to their employee's retirement. Vesting period was 5 years, rule was that a withdrawal me

I work in an office environment and even I couldn't get away with playing games on my phone, unless on my lunch break and away from my desk. Even on lunch at my desk a manager would comment if you played a game on your phone (or PC).

How on earth was it allowed that a security guard was allowed to do this in a prison of all places? One would think that there would be basic rules about conduct for the officers, considering how many there are for the inmates.

he said he couldn't do those things while sitting at his desk. Implying he COULD do those things elsewhere. So if the company had a cafeteria or whatever he could go there and txt, make calls whatever.

How on earth was it allowed that a security guard was allowed to do this in a prison of all places?

Government job?

Guarding a prison is about as exciting as being an inmate. With so many people taking the shittiest work to make a buck, some guards might have been used to a less boring workday. A game can keep a guard alert, but it should be done with a randomly provided game in a break room with frequent duty rotations

...and the older ones are staggeringly computer illiterate. He could have told his boss he was using the computer to monitor security cameras or that he was working on a spreadsheet and his boss likely would not have known the difference.

It's a joke, but in California prisons, because of budget cuts etc, there are not enough guards to man the guard towers. So at a lot of the prisons, you could drive a truck right through the fence and up to the yard, grab some prisoners and be gone before anyone knew what happened. Sad but true.

"The wall was made higher, additional barbed wire was installed, security measures were tightened," said City Councilor Augustus "Jun" Pe, "but why was the inmate still able to escape?"

They've also tried putting onions in his path. That didn't work either.

If you ask the Department of Public Services (DPS), there was no way a man could be smuggled in the thin layer of trash that day without being noticed.They said he would have surely collapsed from the stench of food slop collected from the jail.But a convicted prisoner, who is due to be shipped out to the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinglupa, would surely find the will to endure a ride that smells to the high heavens.

Obviously, some caffeinated magnet-shrooms are needed (to stop them going over and under the defenses) along with some strategically placed winter melons and maybe a cactus somewhere.

I guess it's a good thing he wasn't playing "Angry Birds," because while Plants vs Zombies is good, Angry Birds is likee the holy grail of Iphone games and certainly would have resulted in the entire jail being emptied.

I own N900 and Angry Birds is pretty much the only native game available there. But frankly, I fail to see what's the point why it's so popular, there's a billion of similar flash games around the webs.

Today, PopCap's got a new thing on the streets, Plants vs. Zombies they call it. For just $19.99 they'll get you high on their take on tower defense, and pretty much every dealer in the digital distribution game has it. They've even got a little song to help get the kids hooked. Hey, I wrote a song too. It's called "Oops, I Played Too Much Plants vs. Zombies And I Forgot to Eat and I Died and I Wish I'd Listened to TV and Film Star Robert Loggia."

Really? We're using a site called "GamePron" as a source for a story? Especially with grammar that bad? Ugh. I'll just sit here for the IT police to arrest me after going to a site with "pron" in the title. I'm sure that one red flagged my account.